© 1984 Oxford University Press
research-article |
A Time to Die?
National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Radcliffe Infirmary Oxford OX26HE.UK.
Macfarlane A (National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit, Radcliffe Infirmary, Oxford 0X2 6HE, UK) A time to die? International Journal of Epidemiology 1984, 13: 38 44.
In both the newborn and the elderly, medical care is increasingly able to prolong or curtail life. It is difficult to assess what effect this may have on the population as a whole and what implication it may have for the interpretation of both short-term and longer-term changes in mortality. The definition of cut-off points for age groups is critical to the interpretation of the way changes in medical care could affect infant mortality rates.
Revised 1 July 1983